Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court has questioned the independence of Pakistan’s legal system, stating that the nation requires “an independent judiciary and judges.”
Justice Minallah stated at a Defense of Human Rights event that “the courts cannot do anything if the state is involved in missing persons cases.”
The judge of the top court described the instances involving missing persons as “most difficult,” lamenting that it was hard to speak the truth and that the person who does “is hated the most.”
Justice Minallah’s comments are made in the midst of claims of human rights abuses made by a number of organizations and social groups regarding enforced disappearances in the nation, which the government and state institutions have strongly denied.
